PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT ? Overall Component In Phases I & II of the Institute for Biogenesis Research (IBR) COBRE, the Administrative and Mentoring Core was able to develop unique and effective administrative strategies in order to coordinate the day-to-day management of the center grant, which accommodates faculty and staff on two separate campuses. The Administrative and Mentoring Core successfully designed and enacted a mentoring strategy that evolved with the intensive participation of the External Advisory Committee (EAC), which remains highly dedicated to the development of the IBR as demonstrated by their continued participation in Phase III. In Phase II, we initiated a partnership with the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Womens Health (Dept. Ob/Gyn) that we feel is essential to our continued growth and expansion as a Biomedical Center of Research Excellence in the field of developmental and reproductive biology. Our IDeA trained and mentored basic science researchers have matured to the point that we can pursue the goal of developing a translational arm to our research. In this Phase III application, we have applied our experience to the design of our current strategies for administering the IBR COBRE and to use the resources it provides to maximally enhance the development of the institution and the IBR's research capacity. The overall goal of this core is the same as that of the application as a whole, which is to strengthen and transform the IBR into a multi-disciplinary, fully translational reproductive biology research center that will become independent enough to be sustained on extramural grant support for its future development. The particular emphasis of the Administrative and Mentoring Core is the coordination of all the resources to co-ordinate the productivity of the two cores, and the Translational Pilot Project Program to complete the development of the IBR to sustainability. This will be accomplished through three Specific Aims. Specific Aim 1: Enhance the Administrative and Mentoring Core to effectively coordinate and manage the sustainability of the two technical cores. The major goal of the Administrative Core will be to coordinate the resources supported by the IBR COBRE, including the EAC, external scientific mentors, visiting scientists, the Transgenic Mouse, ICSI and IVF Core, the Molecular and Cellular Immunology Core, and shared instrumentation for the benefit the entire Center. Specific Aim 2: Develop and implement a Translational Pilot Project Program. We will leverage a strong partnership the IBR has developed with the Dept. Ob/Gyn to develop a translational research arm for the IBR COBRE through an innovative use of the pilot program project. Specific Aim 3: Develop and implement an external mentorship program.